Matt Bostic stands inside the Wilson YMCA on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Bostic set a new world record for the most free throws in a 24-hour period with 20,500 free throws made at the Wilson YMCA.(Photo: Albert Cesare / Advertiser)Buy Photo

The first time Matt Bostic broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the most 3-pointers shot in 24 hours, he had to be carried out of the gym.

He lost his toenails. He had bloody fingers and was cramping so bad, that he couldn’t sit up in a station wagon because every time he bent his body, he would cramp from his achilles to his glutes to his neck.

So he was slid into the back seat.

That was in 2006, when he set the world record for the most 3-point shots taken in 24 hours: He shot 6,323 baskets. He also holds the record for making 997 3-pointers in one hour. Do that math.

“I was miserable,” Bostic said of 2006. “Mentally, emotionally.”

But he wasn’t finished.

A few days ago – throughout both Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. — he toed the line on the Wilson YMCA basketball court to break another world record: the number of free throws shot in 24 hours. He made 20,500 baskets, breaking the previous record of 20,371 set in 2011. He stopped at 21 1/2 hours.

If you’re counting, that’s 1,000 baskets per hour. About 15 to 16 baskets per minute.

It’s one break after basket number 19,000. It is 57 bottles of water — almost 900 ounces — and it is only one bathroom break.

“I’d picture a 2x4, literally, when my arm got tired,” he said. “A 2x4 extending from my hand up to the front of the rim — 22,000 times I straightened out the seams. When they hand me the ball, I straightened the seams up, so they are always going straight.”

The record included a blistered middle right finger at hour No. 9, and a wrapped wrist at hour No. 10. And exhaustion. It included exhaustion. He’d literally see closet doors move, and when he tried walking, he’d start one way, and end up another.

But it was all for Shoot for Life, an organization Bostic started in 2004 after he lost his mother, Joannie Bostic, to cancer when he played basketball at Bryan College in 1995.

How would you stand against DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers) and Dwight Howard (Charlotte Hornets)? I’d love to. Those guys, they’re phenomenal shooters. Those guys are pros. But ... they’re 50 percent (shooters). I think it’s different when you take 10 shots or 20 shots or one shot at a time. This is definitely a marathon. And I know it’s not for everyone. A lot of people have tried it. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again. Mentally, I can’t describe what you go through.

Would you put yourself up against them in a 24-hour competition? Absolutely. No doubt. Left-handed.

What about Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)? Well, he has the best shot that I’ve ever seen. His feet and his arm always align perfectly. If you watch at 4 a.m., free throws are mechanical. It’s scientifically proven, there’s a way to shoot a high percentage. They call it BEEF: Balance, Eye, Elbow, Follow through. They all have to align. Curry has the best mechanics I’ve ever seen.

Would you challenge him to a 24-hour free throw challenge? Absolutely, let’s do it. It has to be for the right cause, though.

For Bostic, that cause is Shoot for Life, which has worked in states across the country using school presentations, speaking engagements, a second World Record attempt, and 3-point shooting tournaments called “Trey’s for Treatment” to raise money on behalf of cancer patients.

Trey?

While his wife Andrea was pregnant with their fourth child, Bostic broke the Guinness World record for the most 3-point basketball shots made in 24 hours.

And they named their oldest son Trey.

It was at this point, Bostic turned his passion into good, and started Shoot for Life to honor his mother.

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Matt Bostic stands inside the Wilson YMCA on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Bostic set a new world record for the most free throws in a 24-hour period with 20,500 free throws made at the Wilson YMCA.(Photo: Albert Cesare / Advertiser)

"I used to want to make millions of dollars playing basketball, but now I want to give millions away," he said. "I think that's what happens when you find life by giving it. You get life by giving it away. Don't get me wrong, I'll take millions. I have six kids, and my daughter is getting married in a few weeks.

"But, I truly want to see as many people just find life as possible through a silly game of basketball."

The game started for him in Indiana, where he attended high school in Greensburg, near Indianapolis, and where they teach you "math, science and basketball."

And it is a game in which he wants community involvement. So, as he worked to break the world record over the weekend, thousands from the community came to set their own record: the number of free throws thrown by a community.

They stood at various basketball nets at the Wilson YMCA and shot just double what Bostic did at 42,000 baskets.

"It's not approved by Guinness yet," Bostic said. "The power of the community kept me going. When I did it by myself, I was miserable. The other people were a counter balance of energy. At the end of the day, Shoot for LIfe is about taking whatever you do, putting God in the middle of it, and blessing someone.

"That's the heart behind it. To me, life is about enjoying this moment, being present in this moment."

Bostic serves as a site pastor for Centerpoint Church at its Pike Road location – where hundreds meet on Sundays at the Wilson YMCA. Ironic?

Asked whether he'd look at the basketball net during service and pray harder, he said, "Yeah, probably. This is a special place. How cool is that. I get to be in the gym where we meet."